Four Universes Intertwined
by wmcc27
Summary: Voyager makes a discovery that will change the fate of four universes.


Title: Four Universes Intertwined.

PG-13

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek, Stargate or Mass Effect (I wish I did.) Any characters or technologies from the aforementioned franchisees may or are copyrighted or registered trademarks of their franchise owners.

Note: This is a new version of a story I began over four years ago. My computer crashed after I posted the first chapter and I was without one until recently. I'm a novice writer and am writing this story to increase my own creative writing skills and develop more on the world building I've done for the last six years or so. This is a crossover between Star Trek, Stargate SG-1 and Mass Effect (based on the first three games) and my own original setting. Constructive criticism is welcomed. Lastly between being slow at typing and real life updates will be slow in coming. I also lack a beta reader so there may be, and likely are, grammar and spelling errors.

Chapter One

In her ready room Captain Kathryn Janeway had just finished reading that day's ship status report. Taking a sip from her coffee mug she took a moment to look at the stars though the large set of windows opposite her deck. Eleven hours ago Voyager had enter a class F1 star systems to secure water along some rare earth metals from the moon of the systems second gas dwarf. Almost on entering orbit a small spatial abnormality has been detected. She had order several scans of the abnormality which had uncovered little other than clear signs of temporal and quantum disruption. Now that the water and metals they had enter the system for had been transfer to the cargo bay a more detailed survey was about to begin. A glance at the chronometer on the wall show it was time for those tests to begin.

As soon she was on the bridge Janeway took a moment to look at the abnormality on the view screen. To the naked eye it looked like a black sphere fifty-six point three kilometers in diameter. Compared to the many spatial abnormalities she and her crew had encountered it was among the least visibly impressive.

"Harry what the latest status on our mystery here?"

"We've uncovered little since our preliminary scans. Both the tachyon resonance and the graviton pulse scans were inconclusive. The latest subspace scans still show no sign of subspace disruption. We did discover one thing there's no sign of virtual particle generation within five point seven kilometer of the abnormality event horizon."

"None?" Janeway said with interest. She had never of a phenomenon that could suppress the formation of virtual particles. Looking at the abnormality again she took a moment to think. Punching a button on her chair she brought up the intercom. "Seven are you aware of anything that can prevent the formation of virtual particles."

"Negative the Borg have never encountered such a phenomenon. I have however been reviewing the results of the earlier scans and I believe I've found possible signs of spatial displacement similar to that of a wormhole."

That got everyone on the bridges interest. "Can you determine the distance between this side of the abnormality and the other?"

"Not at this time. I would advise sending a probe though."

"Agreed. Harry bring one of the class two probes on line. Have it began a full scan once it's within ten kilometers of the abnormality's event horizon."

Harry complied and a few seconds later the view screen showed the probe streak toward the abnormality. There was no flash of light or any other sign the abnormality had been disturbed as the probe breached abnormality the probe simply disappeared.

"There was a brief but intense bust of tachyon radiation as the probe reached the horizon which disrupted our connection to the probe but we're back on line. Displaying the video from the probe now." Harry said

On the viewscreen switch from the display of the local abnormality to a field of stars. In the distance was a typical yellow dwarf star with the other side of the abnormality to the bottom left. As the probes camera began scanning three other abnormalities were displayed.

"Harry location."

"According to the charts the probe is now in the Alpha Phi 7564 system in the Gamma Quadrant. Captain 7564 is just over thirteen light years from the Bajoran wormhole."

We might have just found our golden wormhole after all. Janeway thought to herself. "What did the scans of the abnormality interior uncover?" She asked keeping her tone steady.

"The abnormality hyper-topography indicates a class seven wormhole. There were no signs of verteron particles however the abnormality appears to be stable."

"A class seven?" Tom said. I thought that class of wormhole was highly unstable."

"It is." Janeway replied. "There's also the absence of verterons. What else Harry?"

"The throat is very short at thirty three point eight micro meters in length and there is still no sign of subspace disruption. Captain I don't believe this wormhole is subspace based."

"A non-subspace wormhole? Don't wormholes needed to use higher dimensional as a medium for the throat to extend though. In other words subspace" Tom said.

"If it is a non-subspace wormhole then it must be using another class of higher dimensional space. We know of at least two types of space: normal space/time and subspace. If we are dealing with third type of space… Let not get a head of ourselves however. Harry there should be a Starfleet subspace relay nearby, hail it we need to contact Starfleet immediately." Janeway replied.

"Scanning. I'm not seeing any sign of the relay. I also am not detecting the Bajoran wormhole either." Harry said.

"Run a class one scan of local space, maximum range."

A minute passed. Still no sign of either the relay or the Bajoran wormhole. I don't… Wait." Harry looked up from his console surprise evident in his eyes. "I think I know why we can't find the relay. I had the computer run a comparison between the latest survey Starfleet took of 7564 and the result of the probes scans. There are a number of discrepancies the largest is that the quantum signature of the system the probe is in is different from that of our universe."

"So this wormhole leads to another universe." Janeway was both excited and disappointed. Excited that they could be dealing with something that had never been discover namely a stable inter-universal gateway. Disappointed, however as it could not help them return home.

"There more. The computer also compared our star charts to the positions of the stars on the other side and they don't match. It appears the other universe exist at another point in time then out own. I would estimate that it is the year 2427 there with a margin of error of plus or minus two years."

"Fifty years into the future, well an alternate future anyway."

"Captain." Tovock began. If this wormhole leaded to another time than that of our own then the temporal prime directive could applied to any use of the wormhole."

"It might but I would say this is a gray area. If it does apply we would be required to destroyed or at least disable the wormhole which I would be hesitant to do. That is assuming we know how to do so of course. What can you tell us about the other abnormalities?"

"The other three appear mostly identical to the wormhole leading to our space aside from size. The largest is fifty-nine point five kilometers in diameter, the second fifty-one point three and the third is forty-nine point six. One of the abnormality's levels of quantum and temporal disruption is identical to that of the wormhole the probe used. It possible it leads to our universe and time. The other two likely lead to two more universe and time periods. We would likely need to send more probes though to determine that however."

"Let's not be too hasted. First I would like to know more about the universe the probe is currently in. Are there any signs of technology or advanced life in range of the probe?"

"None with in the 7564 system. There is a class-m planet in Alpha Phi 8654 however and I'm seeing thousands of spacecraft in system. The planet itself has a large number of artificial power sources along with extensive number of satellites and stations in orbit. Assuming standard power usage per person I would estimate a total population of between seven and eight billion."

"Are they an FTL capable?"

"There is no sign of active warp drives or for that matter any indication they have subspace technology. That said I have detected a number of short lived quantum fissures within the system. Each was associated with a ship either as one appeared close to a ship, which disappear quickly afterwards or a ship appeared shortly after one formed. None of the fissures lasted more than eighty seconds and don't appear to be subspace based. Those fissures may be some type of FTL system."

"Perhaps. What else can you tell us?"

"Not much. Their STL drive appears to be purely gravitic as well as reactionless and is likely superior to our own. Next whatever their main power sources are there're more powerful then federation antimatter reactors. That said aside from what looked to be an advanced form of tachyon radar there are no signs of FTL scanners."

"Are we going to contact them?" Tom asked. "They might be able to help us investigate the local wormholes."

"That's true but we have no idea what their society is like or if their covered under the prime directive. We need more information. I'm not willing just yet to take Voyager though the wormhole to perform more detailed scans or send another probe to their system."

"Captain I may have a solution." Sevens voice said over the intercom. "I have detected a high amount of tachyon activity originating from the system in question and have determined them to be a form of FTL commutation. Studying their transmissions will likely be the more efficient course of action."

"I agree. Seven, Harry organized the science department. I want a preliminary report on that civilization in fifteen hours."

"Yes captain." Was Seven's and Harry's response.

Fifteen hours later. Main Conference room.

Janeway sat at the head of the conference table as the others setter in.

"Were here to discuss the report compiled by the science department concerning the nearby civilization. Chakotay if you would began."

Chakotay stood moving next to the small display built into the wall. "After analyzing the transmissions we were able to receive we have determined that we are dealing with a race of crustacean like being called the Kaf." At Chakotay command the display switch on to display what superficially looked like a large lobster like creature. Roughly the size of a medium size dog there were six thin but strong looking tentacles surround the head three above and three below. It also had a pair of stocks on the head which ended in black orbs the eyes. Its exoskeleton had a rough sandy texture the color of white sand. Unlike a lobster it lacked claws and a tail. The Kaf are native to a system thirty three thousand light years from the probes location. They are a peaceful but not pacifistic race and intra-species violence is almost unknown. They are biochemically similar to humans for the most part and don't require special environmental support. As their homeworld has a somewhat weak magnetosphere they are more resistant to radiation then many humanoids and have a weak ability to detect common forms of radioactivity. They are however sensitive to high levels potassium although they need it in trace amounts. They don't have genders at least in the way many races do. Instead each adult Kaf can exchange gametes with another although four Kaf are needed to reproduce. This evolved to prevent genetic disorders. Without medical assistance a baseline Kaf can live to around one hundred and forty years. Kaf are well known to be highly creative, charismatic and intelligent. Their also known for being somewhat restless and hyper active particular in times of stress. They also grow bored easily. According to Seven the Kaf are also native to our universe and were roughly as advanced as Earth in the 2060s save for biotechnology and social science which were more advanced as of four years ago. The Kaf in our universe have not directly been contacted by another race but discovered an ancient inactive alien probe in 2363. The Kaf in the other universe are much more advanced having discover a form of FTL travel in 1903 over five hundred years ago. We are not yet sure why they are more advanced then the local Kaf as of yet. Currently the other universes Kaf's government is a hybrid of a constitutional monarchy and democracy. Their current monarch Summer Rain Rising and has held the position for over two hundred year and is very popular. Summer Rain is well known for er promotion of the arts and sciences and er diplomatic skills. The government lacks a formal name and is normally called the Kaf Empire by other races. The empire has a population of one point seven trillion and inhabits almost seven two thousands systems. It along with a race of sapient machines called the Toe'pa are the founders of an interstellar alliance similar to the old Collation of Planets called the Sapient Collation which was formed in 2072. Today the Collation is composed of the Kaf, the Toe'pa, the Val'far, Humanity as well as a number of uplifted animals and AIs."

"Uplifted?" Tom asked.

"At its most basic uplifting is the process of granting non-sapient life full sapience. This usually is done by genetically engineering an organism but can apply to altering the programming of digital life forms to achieve sapience." Seven answered.

"Such biotechnology is highly theoretical in the Federation. As well as highly illegal." Tovock commented.

"True however the Kaf and the other power in the Collation have had this technology for centuries or even millennia in the case of the Val'far. Collation biotechnology as well as medicine in much more advanced then the Federation or indeed most races known to either the Federation or Borg. The Val'far in particular are highly advanced and have bioships. While we have little information on their ships we know there more powerful then Kaf ships who's ships are slightly less advanced as those of Species 8472 save for shields and FTL sensors which are notable less developed."

"Speaking of biotechnology there is one factor that could be a problem. Chakotay said. "One field of biotechnology the Kaf and indeed the rest of the Collation are particular adapt at is that of augmentation. Most citizens, at least those who are biological have some degree of genetic augmentation. They also use cybernetic, biochemical as was as nanotechnological augmentations to a lesser degree. While prejudice between the augmented and the much smaller non-augmented appear to be rare the Collation will likely not approve of the Federations eugenics laws. All the Collations powers recognized the right of their citizens to use augmentation technology. Called morphological freedom this right is considered fundamental like freedom of speech or assembly."

"And the fact we don't recognized this freedom will likely reflect badly on the Federation. Janeway said.

"More than that. From the Collation standpoint not only don't we protect morphological freedom the laws that restricted the employment of augmented people in the Federation will likely be seen as highly discriminatory."

"If we contact the Kaf or another Collation power we'll need to explain why the eugenics laws exist. There are good reasons for them. At the same time we'll need to remember that the reasons for the laws may not exist in this Collation. Continue with your report."

"Aside from biotechnology the Kaf are especially advanced in the fields of energy production, nanotechnology and material science. They also are highly advanced in the area of social science."

"We now come to the Val'far the oldest, most advanced and most powerful society in the Collation. Little is known of their history but they achieved space fight around six hundred CE. From there they developed flawpoint travel, created the first wormholes and uplifted at least five races. They have a population almost eleven trillion and control a combined area of space roughly six time that of the Kaf. They're not a single species instead they are up of twelve species such as the voyeur or banshee. The most common Val'far other races in the Collation deal with are called pylons."

The display screen now showed what appeared to be a large human brain malformed and diseased. Boll like eyes covered the mass with surfaces clouded like cataracts. Eight tentacles fell beneath it and the entire being was a bright emerald green.

"This is one example of a pylon; others differ only in color which denoted what society or swarm they are part of. Pylons act much as civilians do the Federation. They are scientists, diplomats, explorers and so on. They also make up the leadership of their military. All Val'far have some degree of psionic abilities. While all have telepathy and the ability to create a telekinetic shield most have other forms of psionic abilities as well. These range from telekinesis and the aforementioned telepathy to more unusual ones such as cryokinesis or psychometry. All Val'far are part of a group or weak hive mind of which there are ten. All ten are in turn part of a, for lack of a better word, meta-hive mind although the ten appear to be mostly independent. Each swarm is led by a being called an Aspect who is served by one Herald and five Voices. These beings are of special interest as seven of the Aspects are at least vaguely humanoid and all of the Heralds and Voices are human in appearance. All use names derived from human mythology or mysticism in the case of nine of the Aspects or more standard names for the Heralds and Voices. The exception is the tenth Aspect called Father. Lastly the first race the Val'far contacted, save for those they uplifted, was humanity. Many believe there may be a link between humanity and the Val'far or that they have a special interest in humans."

"As stated the Val'far are highly advanced rivaling and in a few areas exceeding the Collative. Along with superior biotechnology the Val'far are also highly developed in the fields of psionic and high energy physics. All known Val'far technology, as well as the Val'far themselves, from nanites to buildings and ships are made of biometal a material that combines the strength and endurance of the inorganic with the versatility and psionic potential of organic. Most devices utilized psionic abilities in their operation, for example cryokinesis is used, in part or in whole, in cooling systems. Even ships and buildings have psionic capabilities. Intruders have been known to be attacked via telekinesis or telepathy by the structure they were in."

"We now come to the Toe'pa a race of sapient machines. They are the youngest species in the Collation having been created just over twenty thousand years ago. Created by a massive 'ark' ship the newly created Toe'pa were placed on a class-L planet. They were not given any technology nor did they have any memories prior to being activated. Begin at an early Stone Age level of development they followed the typical route of technological development save for they never developed agriculture for obvious reasons. All throughout this the Ark would routinely land new Toe'pa and power cores. In 1814 they began to explore space one of the major goals of their space programs were to explore the Ark. In 1844 a number of ships were launched toward the Ark but before they could reach it the Ark self-destructed. Beforehand however it sent a massive shipment of Toe'pa and power cores. It also transmitted instructions on how to build new Toe'pa. They immediately began to study the instructions and in 1927 the first Toe'pa not made by the Ark was… born for lack of a better word. The next hundred years saw them spread throughout their home system and the first interstellar missions. First contact occurred in 2051 when they were contacted by the Kaf. At the time the Kaf were looking for possible allies against the Shill a fungoid like race that had destroyed a number of less advanced races. While the Shill were unaware of the Kaf the Kaf believe it was only a matter of time before they were attacked. Seeing the danger the two races form a military alliance that latter evolved into the Collation. The Shill discovered the two races and attacked in 2099 and were driven off fifty years later thanks to the development of shields and meson weapons. Today the Toe'pa collective control around fifty three thousand systems and have a population of seven hundred and thirty two billion. Modern Toe'pa societies are anarchic in nature and there are dozens of civilizations within the race. Some of the more well-known are the Composed Moderator clan who force on diplomatic efforts as well as intelligence gathering, the Knight of Mayhem a kind of military/police force for hire and the Sons of Plunder an alliance of business networks. Toe'pa are, almost to the last, highly individualist with a strong need to differentiate themselves from others. They also highly value freedom and are strongly opposed to those who oppress others.

"The Toe'pa are technologically advanced and are roughly seventy years behind the Kaf save for information technology which is only thirty years behind." Seven said.

The last group in the Collation originated on Earth. Comprised by genetically engineered humans as well as AIs and uplifted animals this group is often called Transhumanity or Mindkind. All modern Transhumanity nations originated from a one of the interstellar colonies that were founded between 2101 and 2231. Transhumanity in Sol went extinct due to a combine of war and disease. There are five major Transhuman societies the two largest and most powerful being the Midgard Republic and the Apollo Colonial Administration or ACA. The Midgard Republic was founded in 2192 by an AI named Njord in the Tau Ceti system now known as the Balder system. In Sol Njord had come to the conclusion that Transhumanity was facing an extinction event. He believe that due to it evolutionary history humans both baseline and engineered were unable to handle both a high level of technology and population. One of the oldest AIs Njord was designed to be a 'friendly AI' who placed the good of humanity above all other considerations. To safeguard humanity he decided to create an entirely new civilization one that didn't have the 'flaws' that humanity in Sol had. One of the richest persons in Sol Njord founded his own interstellar mission. Launched in 2099 the ship called the Skíðblaðnir didn't carry a crew or passengers save for Njord. When it reached Tau Ceti 2 in 2186 Njord survey the planet. Satisfied he began the construction of a small colony. As this happen he began to grow humans via synthetic wombs. The humans were heavily engineered both to correct the 'flaws' Njord saw in Sol based humanity and to be the perfect colonized. Calling the new humans Vikings they were designed for increases strength, endurance and intellectual potential along with a number of other physical alterations. His engineering also affects their behavior and personalities. There is a very strong tendency in Vikings toward being brave, stoic, highly disciplined and having a strong will. There is also a tendency toward 'macho' behaviors and to a less extend attention seeking. He also completely removed any genetic disorders and defect from their genome. Lastly he only allowed a small amount of genetic diversity in Viking line. All Vikings were and are Scandinavian in appearance, male and around 1.98 meters in height. This was done to prevent prejudice from forming as well as help bond the colony. Lastly only sixty-three lines of Viking were made which makes the Republic a muti-clone society. Thanks to memory implanting and accelerated virtual reality the first Viking were ready to leave the wombs as adults in three years. From there the Republic grew and today is the largest and most powerful Transhuman nation although the ACA is close behind. It has a current population of over eight hundred and seventy eight billon with three hundred plus system. Njord is president a position he has held since the Republic was formed. Otherwise it is a typical cyber democracy save for it legislative branch which is comprised of the adult population. The Republic has good relationships with most powers save for the Atlantis Collaboration which are somewhat cool due to a short war it had with the Republic."

Janeway frowned slightly. "What can you tell us about this war?"

"In 2398 the Val'far in the form of Djinn's swarm, contacted the Collaboration. Nine months later the Val'far gave the Collaboration the plans for a primitive form of the flawpoint drive. The other human powers immediately ask the Collaboration for the plans but were rebuffed as the Collaboration didn't wish to possible antagonize the Val'far. A few months later an unknown group was able to steal the plans and transfer them to the Republic. This angered the Collaboration and they demanded that those responsible be turned over as well as compensation. The Republic replied that they didn't know who the thieves were and they were not responsible for the actions of "misguided patriots." After almost a year of intense diplomatic efforts the Republic invited the Collaboration to visited Redstone a shipyard where it was upgrading its ships with the drive. During the visit a number of computer virus activated which shut down the containment fields on the antimatter bay on the Collaboration ship. This destroyed Redstone and temporally killed over nine hundred people. Blamed on an unknown terrorist group at first the Republic discovered evidence that the destruction of Redstone was a black op by the Collaboration. While in part meant to slow down the upgrade program its main goal was to cover up the theft of data on a next generation drive system created by the Republic. A month later the Republic attacked the Collaboration. The war lasted less than a day and soon the Republic had achieved orbital supremacy over Atlantis. Before it could continue a fleet of Val'far ships, this time belong to Tabbris' swarm appeared forcing both sides to stand down. Today there is bad blood on both sides."

"Understandable. Continue."

"The next major power is the Apollo Colonial Administration which was founded in 2148 after the discovery of a wormhole linking Sol to Zeta Reticuli One, or Apollo in 2096. Originally an organization meant to help coordinate the colonization of Zeta Reticuli One and Two it slowly became a supranational government overseeing the various governments. It not unlike the Federation, the ACA controls foreign policy as well as the military which the member governments, mostly city-states, control their domestic policies. The ACA is very decentralized and has no real capital. It is also considered to be the most diverse of the human powers as well as the most diplomatic. The ACA has recently set up the Eirene Project with the goal of strengthening the ties between the Transhuman powers. This project is meant both to increase the relevancy of Transhumaity in the wider galaxy and to increase cooperation between the powers. Currently it has a population of six hundred and fifty million and covers just under three hundred systems. It has excellent diplomatic relationships with all the major powers.

"This ACA sounds like it would be an excellent choice for first contact." Harry pointed out.

"They would but the closest system of theirs is over forty thousand light years away. In fact the closest non-Kaf system is seven hundred light years from the probe."

"So we're either contacting the Kaf or no one else." Janeway mused. Continue."

"The next power in the Beta Collation based in Beta Comae Berenices or the Athens system. Like all the colonies save for the ACA Beta was founded by an STL starship. During the journey to Athens a micrometeoroid strike destroyed most of the stasis chambers onboard. Only forty-three chambers were recoverable. Along with the active crew there were now sixty-two people left to colonize Athens. Knowing this was too small a gene pool to survive the colonists used genetic modeling to create a large number of genome which was used to produce children. They were raised by the colonists and when they were adults more children were created. This repeated a number of times until the pool was large enough. One major problem the colonists face was the conflict between the Nationalists who wish to follow the original colony guidelines and based the colony on Earth societies and the Rejectionists who desired to form new societies. This lead to numerous acts of violence and even terrorism. These conflicts lead to the formation of the System Council an intergovernmental organization to help promote cooperation and peace between the various governments. Today the System Council is composed of eighteen different governments which form the bulk of the bulk of the Collation. There's only one Athens derived government, the United Christian Association a Christian fundamentalist theocracy that is not part of the Council. Due to first contact many in the Collation have supported expanding the System Council's reach but they are opposed by many others. Also the Association is slowly growing more hostile to the rest of the Beta Collation powers. This is because many who feel oppressed by the Association for example atheists and other non-Christians, Christians belonging to versions of the religion not in line with the Association beliefs, sexual minorities and Transhumanist proponents are fleeing to the rests of the Collation. It is also highly opposed to contact with aliens, AIs and uplifted beings seeing them as either soulless abominations or literally demonic. The rest of the Collation is far more relaxed and the media and entertainment sectors are highly influential in most of the nations. Of all the Transhuman powers Beta, save for the Association, is best described as a leisure society as most people believe that enjoying life to be one of the highest if not highest goals of existence. It not unlike Risa but with strong militaries and covering two hundred and seventy five systems. It is the third largest of the Transhuman powers with a population of almost eighty million."

"The Association may prove to be hostile to the Federation due to the presence of non-humans as well as alien/human hybrids. Also while no non-Transhuman race has developed or shown interest in religion the existence of such religions in our universe may challenge their beliefs." Seven said.

"We'll have to keep an eye on them if and when we come in contact. The last two powers is the Atlantis Collaboration based in Alpha Mensae or Mu and what is loosely called the Orion colonies. The Collaboration was formed in 2188 by the Pontus Foundation an aquatic pantropy organization. The Foundation wished to create an entire underwater civilization but felt that the Sol system was too restrictive for them to fully realize their goal. They bought a mothballed colony ship from the Chinese Federation reaching Mu in 2183. As they began to survey Mu 2 or Atlantis, which is mostly covered in sallow oceans, they notice a high rate of failure in their probes after splash down. They discovered that the ecosystem was home to a number of bacteria and mold-analogs that could consume or dissolve most metals and plastics. In effect the ecosystem would eat most forms of conventional technology. A group of scientists came up with a solution. Instead of using conventional technology they could replace most of it with biotechnological versions. By the time they had left Sol biotechnology was highly advanced ranging from symbiotic lifeforms and bio-computers to living buildings. The scientists claimed the colony could maintain a modern standard of civilization with such wide scale conversion to biotechnology. After much debate a small test colony was set up. After some early setbacks the colonists were able to adjust to the new settings and over the next ten years the bulk of the other colonists moved to the planet. Today the Collaboration has a population of sixty nine million and controls two hundred and twenty systems. It is also the Transhuman power with the most advanced biotechnology. Lastly we come to the Orion colonies in Pi 3 Orion. Foundered by businesswoman Jennifer Young Orion society is based on a form of libertarian anarchy. It lacks a government instead commercial organizations provide services such as medical care and police protection. It is a contract society where nothing is considered real unless it can be bought or sold."

"Sounds like the Ferengi _." Tom said._

 _"_ Only to point. While both societies consider skill at business and greed to be virtues the Ferengi have been known to use slavery or default on contracts things most Orionis abhor. Also Ferengi culture tends to be somewhat cynical while Orion is more idealistic. They believe their form of society promote the maximum amount of freedom possible. Orion has the smallest population at sixty-two million and a combined territory of one hundred eighty two systems. It does however have one of the strongest economies of the Transhuman powers when size it taken into account. That's all of the Collation powers. There are only two other known FTL powers: The Traders and the Shill. Little is known about the Traders as they never leave their ships and communicated only via text. They rarely make contact with the Collation and only for the propose of trading goods and information. Judging from the amount of power generated by their ships it's believed they are roughly on par with the Kaf in technology. The Shill as sated before are hostile to the Collation. In 2123 the Kaf were able to capture a badly damaged Shill ship. It appears the Shill evolved in a on a planet with a weak magnetosphere that orbited a slightly unstable star. This mean that the planet couldn't fully protect against the star's radiation. To safeguard their race the early Shill would kill anyone affected by mutation. This became instinctive and now they are hostile to any intelligent life other than their own. While the Kaf and Toe'pa were able to drive them off their ships have been spotted preforming recon in the last couple of years. Many fear that war with them is only a matter of time. The Shill are believed to be as advanced as Transhumaity but attack in massive fleets that can overcome more advanced fleets. They appear to be intend on destroying all other sapient life. That most of what we were able to discover about the civilizations native to the other universe. Seven can fill you in more about their technological capabilities."

"As stated before the Collation is highly advanced in most areas and have a number of unique technologies. Four in particular stand out. First is their FTL drive called a flaw-point projector. The projector functions by creating a quantum fissure or flaw-point to access a higher dimensional realm called sidespace. Due to its nature a ship can travel only a short distance within it but have effectively crossed a much greater distance in normal space. Currently Collation ship can travel at warp 67.27 or six point six seconds per light year."

"That makes warp look like a joke." Tom said impressed. "If we can acquire this technology we could be home in a matter of days."

"Correct. Also it may be possible to combine warp with sidespace. At warp nine point two while within sidespace a ship could reach Andromeda in eighty three seconds. With the flaw-point drive alone that journey would take one hundred and fifty seven days while Voyager would take over a thousand years."

"We'll have to investigate that possibility if we contact the Kaf" Janeway said."

"The next major technology is known as wormhole miners. The Collation powers are able to stabilized Planck scale wormholes. Both ends of the wormhole can then be move to a desired location and expanded enough to be used by ships. There're also used for communication. In this case the wormhole is atomic in scale which allows laser commutation. These wormholes communication device can be placed on ships as well as space stations and planets and allow real-time commutation regardless of range. Combined with standard commutation networks this has allowed the Collation to form a galaxy wide information network."

"Like the Federation's Star Net?" Tom asked.

"In part but much more advanced. Next are the Collation's AP generators. AP or alternate physics generators are able to alter the laws of physics with in a small area. The two major uses of AP generators and for weapons and power generators. The primary weapons on Collation military ships are the quantum laser and hellfire cannon. The laser system functions by firing a high energy laser though a specific AP field altering the properties of the laser. The laser induces a fission reaction in elements heaver then iron and fusion in ones less heavy. This along with the sheer power of the laser itself makes for a powerful weapon. The hellfire cannon is a fusion based weapon that uses a generator to transmute the plasma that makes up the fusion pulse into antimatter. The quantum laser has a longer range then the hellfire cannon and is more effective against shields. The cannon however has more firepower and can penetrate armor better. It also creates a significant amount of radiation which can poison organics and damage systems. Lastly the Collations main secondary weapon is the graviton torpedo. We were unable to determine how the weapon works but it appears to be an implosive/explosive device that creates a massive if brief amount of gravitation sheer as well as high energy plasma and radiation."

"Would our navigation deflector protect against their quantum lasers?" Janeway asked.

"Unlikely. The Collation uses deflectors similar if less refined then those of the Federation. It is unlikely they would still use quantum lasers if deflectors provided any significant protection. The last technology of note is called uploading. The Collation powers have discovered a way to copy or transfer the mental matrix of a lifeform, usually a sapient one, into digital form. From there the matrix can be placed into an organic or inorganic form or a computer to exist in digital form. In addition most in the Collation have implants called black boxes which record the matrix at a rate of serval times per second. This allows the person to be uploaded in case of death. Lastly most people keep multiple backups of their matrix in case their black box is unrecoverable. This technology combined with advanced biotechnology gives Collation citizen a form of immortality. It also allows multiple versions of the same person to exist at once. Normally these 'ghosts' are merged back into a single version after a short period of time but there are exceptions."

"I've never heard of such a technology." Harry said.

"There have been attempts at creating such a technology. Ivan Graves's synaptic mapping process is one example. Such technology has proven to be unstable however." Janeway replied.

"The Collation has perfected this technology. It was first developed by the Kaf in 1937. Humans developed it in 2073." Seven said.

"It sounds like the Collation is much more advanced than us. I don't see anything, technology wise, we could offer them." Tom said with a frown.

"Not entirely. While the Collation is more advanced then the Federation for the most part there are some areas where the Federation is more advanced. The most obvious is their complete lack of subspace technology or even knowledge of subspace. This has prevented them from developing a number of technologies such as transporters, replicators, advanced FTL scanners or advanced shields. They also lack the able to phase energy or matter."

"That is our report on the races native to the other universe questions?"

"I noticed that this Collation is only aware of seven FTL capable societies. They can't be that widespread despite being in space for so long." Tom commented.

"On the contrary the Collation has explored an area of the galaxy roughly the same size as that the Federation has. Sapient life appears to be much rarer there then in our galaxy." Chakotay replied.

"The main question is should we try to contacted them." Harry said.

"I'm inclined to say yes. The Collation, for the most part, seems to peaceful organization and shares many of the same values as the Federation." Janeway said.

"There are a number of factors to consider." Seven said. First I have determined that one other of the wormholes leads to our universe. I was able to detect a very faint amount of EM radiation being emitted by each wormhole. The quantum signature being emitted by the wormhole which I have label wormhole three, is identical to that of our universe."

"A second possible way home or at least a short cut."

"There's more. While currently the Collation can't detected this type of wormhole at long range their tachyon scanner are still improving. I estimate they will gain such capability in fifteen years."

"No doubt they began to explore though them. Sol will likely be one of their first stops at least for the Transhuman powers."

"It should also be noted that the Toe'pa who like the Val'far do not appear to be native to our universe, home system is the location of Unimartix 103."

"In light of that I don't believe we have a choice but to contact the Collation. Not only could we assist in them in first contact with the Federation but we can't allow their technology to fall into Borg hands. The results of that would be almost literally apocalyptic. The question is how to contact them."

"We have two options there. Either Voyager could travel to Alpha Phi 7564 or we could contact them via tachyon." Chakotay said.

"None of the probes on board have the ability to transmit a tachyon beam with the needed focus or range. Only Voyager and the Delta Flyer have that capability." Seven replied.

"I'm still wary of sending Voyager into a wormhole we know so little about." Janeway stated.

"The Delta Flyer is possible our best bet. With it we can contact the Kaf and send more probes though the other wormholes." Chakotay said.

"Agreed. Chakotay, Tom and Seven you'll be manning the Flyer. Your primarily mission is to establish contact with the Kaf via tachyon. As the wormholes are in their territory I'd like permission to send more probes though them. We have no idea what's on the other side of them and I don't want to attract the attention of a hostile race to us or them."

"Captain I not sure that contacting them by tachyon is our best option." Harry said. "Seeing as the Kaf have had limited experience in contact with other FTL races they might not believe we're not from one of the Transhuman colonies. Let alone another universe."

"Excellent point Harry. I presume you have an idea?"

"It risky but we could sent the Flyer to their system. Our technology is very different from any of the races here. Even a cursory scan would show that. It would add weight to our claim."

"Another good point. The question is how to ensure the safety…" Janeway paused for a moment. "This FTL drive system of their works by entering another dimension. Therefore it is highly likely they can't attack a ship at warp."

"That is correct." Seven responded.

"If the Kaf prove hostile, which seems unlikely, the Flyer could go to warp to escape. They may be faster but unless they reenter normal space they couldn't touch the Flyer, unless they left sidespace but then they'd be restricted to slower then light. Again they couldn't attack the Flyer. So be it. The Flyer will travel to Alpha Phi 8654 and contact the Kaf. It should take about a day to reach the system at the Flyer top cruise speed. In case you encounter trouble you are to return immediately. Until then we'll continue to study the Kaf's transmissions. Meeting adjourned."


End file.
